Portable centerboard for boats



Patented Feb. 2s, |899.V

c. s. HvAmLTnIN, PUBTABLE GENTEBBUARD FDR BUATS.

(Application led June 27', 1898.)'v

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PORTABLE CENTERBOARD FOB BOATS.v

Patented Feb. 28, |899,

(Application tiled-.Tuna 2,7, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Shee 2.

(No Model.)

No. 620,3". Patented Fab. 28, |899.

C. S. HAMILTN. PUBTABLE lGENTERBMRD FOB BOATS.

(Application led .Tune 27, 1598.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

TH: Npnms PETERS co, PNOTQUTNQ., wAsHmaToN. n, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. HAMILTON, CF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

PORTABLE CENTERBOARD FOR BOATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,311, dated February28, 1899.

Application filed .Tune 27, 1898.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES S. HAMILTON, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inCenterboards or Portable Keels for Boats; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings andthe letters of reference marked thereon', to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a side View, partially insection, of a boat having my improvedcenterboard or portable keel applied thereto; Fig. 2, a side view of therear end of the centerboard, enlarged; Fig. 3, a sectional View on line3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a similar view with the board in apartly-inverted position; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the latchhousing and plate detached; Fig. 6, an enlarged perspective view of thelatch-operating slide detached; Fig. 7, a sectional View illustratingthe devices for holding the board in position; Fig. 8, a view, partiallyin elevation and partially in section, of the brace or clamp rod; Fig.9, a perspective View of the upper end of the clamp-rod tube; Fig. 10, atop view of the clamp-rod thimble; Fig. 1l, a sectional View thereof;Fig. 12, a perspective view of the coupling interlocking washer; Fig.13, a sectional view of the coupling tube thimble;

Fig. 14, a top view of the same; Fig. 15, a

side view of the coupling-head and swivel; Fig. 16, a View, partially inside elevation and partially in section, illustrating a combinedcoupling and brace rod; Fig. 17, a transverse section of the same; Fig.18, a transverse section through the coupling-tube, illustrating thedevice for drawing the'coupling member upward through the coupling-tube;Fig. 19, a broken sectional view of the same, enlarged; Fig. 20, asectional View of the lower end of the float, illustrating theconnection between the hook therein and the coupling-key.

This invention relates to an improvement in centerboards or portablekeels for boats and to devices for shipping and unshipping the board.

The object of this invention is to provide a portable board or keelwhich may be sus- Serial No. 684,531. (No model.)

pended in line with the center of the boat edge of which is a slot D',extending from about the longitudinal center through the rear end of thesaid strip. In the rear end of the centerboard A is a rectangularopening- E, and on the starboard side is a groove E', extending downwardfrom the opening or chamber E through the bottom of the board. In theport side of the board and so as to close that side of the opening E issecured a plate E2,and over the opening on the starboard side is placeda plate F, having an arm F' eX- tending downward through the groove E toa point in line with the lower edge of the strip D, into which it ismortised, the lower end of the arm having a groove G corresponding tothe groove D in the strip D. In the face of the arm F is a slot F4.Within the chamber E is a sliding block I, the upper portion of which ispreferably of lead and the lower part of brass, and depending from thelower brass portion I is a tongue J, formed with a beveled face J',adapted to pass into the hole F4. To the tongue J a latch K is connectedby a link lo, the said latch being hung in the housing F3 upon a pivotf. The upper inner edge of the said latch is beveled corresponding tothe bevel of the tongue J, and the nose K of the latch projects inwardat a point slightly below the inner edge of the groove G and so as toleave a space above the nose of the latch. When the board is held in avertical position, the sliding block I, bearing downward, forces thenose K of the latch inward, as shown in Fig. 3; but if the board beinverted or its lower edge raised above the horizontal position, asshown in Fig. 4, the sliding block I, moving in the chamber E, will drawthe upper end of the .latch inward and throw the nose K thereof outwardand so clear the groove G.

downward through the thimbles.

Fixed to the centerboard at the inner end of the groove D" is a chain,Wire, or other suitable line L of suitable length to be passed on boardthe boat, and to this line is connected a link M, corresponding in widthto the width of the groove G, so as to set therein and stand between thetop of the groove and the nose K of the latch K, by which the link isheld in position and so as to hold the line L in the groove G. In thisline is an eyeZ to which a line L is attached and so that the line maybe drawn aft and taut and close to the side of the boat, so as topresent no obstruction to the boat in the water.

At convenient points fore and aft and preferably through the thwarts, soas to be supported thereby, I arrange vertical tubes N N', which extenddownward through the keel or shoe of the boat and open into the channelB thereof, and in the upper edge of each tube is a bayonet-slot n.Extending through each of the tubes N N' is a brace or clamp rod O, eachformed on opposite sides at its upper end with lateral wings O and eachfurnished at its upper end with a handle and adapted to pass into thetubes through thimbles N2. Each of the thimbles N2 is formed with atopflange N2 to rest on the upper end of the tube, and in opposite sides ofeach thimble are grooves n', corresponding to the wings O' and so thatwhen turned into alinement therewith the rods may be moved In one sideof each thimble is an outwardly-extending pin n2, adapted to enter theslots n, whereby the thimbles may be in terlocked with the upper end ofthe tubes N N'. The lower end of each rod is bifurcated and the fingersO2 adapted to pass on opposite sides of the centerboard A and intosockets O2, located on the sides thereof and so that the centerboardwill be firmly held in a vertical position. On each rod below the wingsO' is a short pin or stud o, adapted to arrest the upward movement ofthe clamp-rod O unless said pin shall be turned into line with thegrooves n.

Adjacent to the tubes N are similarly-arranged tubes P P', in the upperend of each of which is placed a thimble Q, similar to the thimble N2except that the slots or grooves q in the opposite sides ofits centralopening gradually increase in width toward the lower end, as clearlyshown in Fig. I3. Extending through each of the tubes P P' is aconnection to the centerboard, which connection consists of a link R,chain or rod R', swivel R2, and head R2, to the top of which a cord R4is attached having at its outer end a key R5. On opposite sides of thehead R2 are wings o r', arranged in line with each other and adapted toset into notches s in the top of a washer S, which is adapted to rest onthe top of the thimble Q or to pass through a Slot S', formed in thesaid washer at right angles to the notches s and so that either thewings o 01 0" may rest in the notches s and be taken on board the boatwithout allowing p the key R5 to pass through the tube P, although forthe purposes of properly stowing the board away I prefer to allow thekey to pass through the tube and escape at the bottom when thecenterboard is removed.

To ship the board, the key and the connections to the board are firstdrawn up through the tube P by a hook and line dropped downward throughthe tube and grappled from the side of the boat by aboat-hook or bydevices hereinafter described, and as the tubes P P' open over thecenter of the channel in the keel it follows that as they are drawnupward the centerboard will be drawn into the said` channel, and whendrawn up the washer S is turned so as to bring the notches 3 beneath thewings r, which hold the head in its elevated position. When thecenterboard is thus located,the clamp-rods O are forced downward, sothat the ngers O2 pass on opposite sides of the centerboard and into thesockets O3 thereon, and when thus located the wings O' stand in thenotches ot' in the thimbles N2, and the rods are thereby held againstturning. When it is desired to unship the board, the line L' is cast olfand the clamp-rods are drawn upward until the wings O' are drawn out ofthe notches n' in the thimble N2. The clamp-rods are then rotated tobring thelower ends of the wings upon the upper ends of the thimble.When the centerboard is thus released, the heads R2 will be turned tobring the wings o r' in line with the slot S' and so that the saidconnection to the board may pass downward through the tubes P P. Whenthus released, the board A will drop by force of gravity, and the lineL, being held in the groove Gr by the latch K, will cause the board tobe tilted into a horizontalposition, as shown in Fig. 4, and so that theblock I will slide in the chamber E and throw the nose K of the latch Koutward, thus releasing the link M, and thereby, freeing the line L,which, being secured to the center of the board, enables the board to bedrawn directly inward or scoured to the throat-halyards and easilylifted on deck. In case of larger vessels, however, some means fordrawing the key and intermediate connections to the centerboard upwardthrough the tubes P is necessary, and for this purpose I preferablyemploy a liftingrod composed of a pipe T, closed at the lower end by aplug T', through which is a small passage t, and this plugT' isconnected with a similar plug T2, fixed in the upper end of anintermediate pipe T3, and in this plug T2 is a passage t', correspondingto and in line with the passage t in the plug T'. Extending through thepipes T T3 is a line U, which is connected with a long wire hook V,which extends into a float IV, said float being formed ICO IIO

55 the board in position.

from a short piece of pipe corresponding in diameter to the diameter ofthe pipes T T3 and closed at its upper 'end bya tapered plug W', adaptedto enter and close the lower end of the pipe T3, the lower end of thefloat being closed by a cork plug W3. The line U is drawn taut throughthe handle T4 at the end of the pipe 'l and so as to hold the sectionsin line with each other, and in this position 1o they are passeddownward through the tube P, as shown in Fig. 18. When the lower end ofthe upper pipe T is below the keel, the cord U is released and the loatand the intermediate pipe T3 will rise, and when partially I5 elevatedthe float will detach itself from the lower end of the pipe T3 and riseto the surface of the water, where it may be readily grasped from thevessel. The plug W2 is then removed and the hook V drawn outward zo andengaged with an eye r2 in the end of the key R3, as shown in Fig. 20,and the key drawn into the float W. The float is then cast overboardand,illing with water,will at once sink, carrying with it the line R4.The pipe T3, also filling with water when the float is removed,

will fall into a vertical position and the three sections be broughtinto vertical alinement, so that the device may be drawn up through thetube P and with it the line R. When this 3o' line R is secured, thecenterboard is cast olf 3 5 the centerboard the link M in the line Lwill be engaged by the latch K. When in position, the line L is drawnrearward and connected with the line L', as before described.

In approaching shoal water the brace-rods vALQLQrmay be lifted out ofengagement with the centerboard and the head R3 dropped downward untilthe wings r engage with the notches s', in which position thecenterboard will have passed out of the channel. B in the keel, andowing to the iiexible connection will be allowed to freely swing to theright or left or may be drawn into a horizontal position by the line L.It will thus be seen that the board is always under control and 5o maybe shipped and unshipped.

Although I have shown anddescribed two clamp-rods, which are preferablyemployed, it may be found that with small boats one clamp-rod will besufficient to securely hold While I prefer the iiexible coupling and theclamp-rods for the reason that with such a construction the board may beallowed to swing into a horizontal position when approaching shoal Wa-6o ter, the clamp-rod may be dispensed with,

and instead of a flexible coupling, as before described, I may employ arod X, the lower end of which is bifurcated and the fingers X X enteredinto channels X3, formed on therein by a bolt or screw X3, the saidchannel increasing in width above and below the `are Wings y,corresponding to the wings fr in the head previously described, andthese wings are adapted to rest upon the top of a thimble Y',corresponding to the thimble N3 and so that only one vertical tube willbe required at each end of the board. To the heads Y lines are securedby which they are drawn upward through the verticallyarranged tubes.

Havin g fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a boat having a longitudinal channel in its shoeor keel, of vertically-arranged tubes opening into said channel, acenterboard adapted to enter said channel, connections secured to saidboard and adapted to be passed upward through said tubes, and avertically-arranged' clamprod adapted to engage with the upper edge ofsaid board, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a boat having a longitudinal channel in its shoeor keel, of vertically-arranged tubes opening into said channel,thimbles in the upper ends of said tubes, a centerboard adapted to entersaid channel, and connections secured to said board and adapted to passupward through said tubes, and comprising heads withlaterally-projecting wings for engagement with grooved washers whichrest on the upper ends of said thimbles, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a boat having a longitudinal channel in its shoeor keel, of a centerboard adapted to be entered into and held in saidchannel, said board formed with a groove in its lower edge extendingfrom the center thereof rearward, a line xed at the inner end of saidgroove, and a latch at the outer end of said groove adapted to hold the-line therein, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a boat having a longitudinal channel in its shoeor keel, of a centerboard adapted to be entered into-and held in thesaid channel, said board formed with a groove in its lower edgeextending from the center thereof rearward, a line fixed at the innerend of said groove, a latch at the outer end of said groove adapted tohold the line therein, and a sliding block connected with said latch,and adapted to throw the nose of said latch outward when the lower edgeof said` board is raised above the horizontal, substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination with a boat having a longitudinal channel in its shoeor keel, of vertically-arranged tubes opening into said channel, amovable centerboard adapted t0 enter said channel, and a placing deviceconsisting of two pipes hinged together, a iioat To the upper ends ofIOO adapted to close the lower end of the lower In testimony whereof Ihave signed this pipe, a, line extending through said pipes andspeeieation in the presence of two subscribinto said float, and a hooksecured to the ing Witnesses.

lower end of said line for engagement with a CHARLES S. HAMILTON. 5 keyconnected to J[he centerboerd, said pipes /Vitnesses:

and oet being adapted to be passed through LILLIAN D. KELSEY,

one of said tubes. i FRED. C. EARLE.

